(Re)Positioning of Inter- and Intra-Lingual Translational Adventures

Abstract

This study analyzes Bir Calgicinin Seyahati (The travels of a musician) within the context of its inter-/intra-lingual translations in the Turkish literary and cultural system. Initially serialized in Saadet , Bir Calgicinin Seyahati was published in Ottoman script by Saadet Matbaasi in 1907/1908 [1323] and by Ikbal Kutuphanesi in 1921 [1337] and 1926. The first Latin script edition of this text in book form was published by Semih Lutfi (ca. 1945). In this edition, which lacks an author’s name, Mehmet Tevfik is presented as the book’s translator. Although the work was analyzed and categorized as an ‘interlingual translation’ based on Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff’s (1826) Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts ( From the Life of a Good-for-Nothing ) (Şahin 2005; Şahin 2012; Oncu 2017), it was also claimed to be an “original”/“indigenous work” (Tevfik 1945, back cover of vol. 2; Calapala 1972, 5; Gunduz 2017, 39) and was regarded as a “pseudo translation” (Tahir Gurcaglar 2008, 228). In light of these claims, this study explores the interlingual translational adventure of the work. Another edition without an author’s name was produced by Yeni Kitapci in 1937 and contains the note, “Translator: Kemal Tahir.” The same text was later published in 1945 and 1953 by Ahmet Halit Yasaroglu as “adjusted and transferred from German by Kemal Tahir” and is categorized as an ‘interlingual translation’ (Oncu 2017). Tahir’s work was also referred to as a “revision” (Şahin 2005, 2; Tahir Gurcaglar 2008, 228) or “summary” (Calapala 1972, 5) of Tevfik’s text. Taking the relationship between Tahir’s and Tevfik’s texts as ‘intralingual translation,’ this study provides an analysis of the similarities and differences between the two texts within the context of translation studies.